1. Allow me first to convey to the President my congratulations and those of my delegation and the Government of the Argentine Republic on his election.
2. The Government of Argentina wishes special significance to be attached to its attendance at this, the thirteenth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. For Argentina, after a process which has not been without its difficulties, has returned to an invigorated constitutional order, with solidly- based democratic institutions and with the rule of law firmly established. My Government can therefore appreciate the true significance of this great Assembly, for our country has always been a champion of the tenets of international law; and through its behaviour in the most widely differing circumstances, has shown its respect for the juridical settlement of international disputes, and its obedience to peaceful authorities, to whose judgement it has always submitted the outcome of its own victories.
3. For us, the United Nations genuinely represents one of the most far-reaching ventures ever undertaken by man. It is a noble attempt to unite the International community through the rule of law and to give practical effect to that universal morality which we all desire, as being the only means whereby peaceful relationships can be established between all the peoples of the earth. But the high hopes which we place in the United Nations do not, of course, allow us to forget the extreme gravity of the problems which today darken the world scene and jeopardize the destiny of the civilization shared by all peoples here represented.
4. The existence of two powerful blocs around which vast numbers of the population of the world are grouped is an undeniable fact. And it is also a fact that the ceaseless interplay of power and national interests gives rise, within the restricted areas which it affects, to constant and ever-recurring disputes which bring mankind to the brink of chaotic and unpredictable
5. My country accepts the existence of this unfortunate state of world affairs, since the harsh reality of facts makes It imperative to do so. It believes, however, in the absolute necessity of finding an issue from this grave crisis. It believes that the instinct of self-preservation lays upon all peoples the urgent obligation to unite to find a solution to this potential conflict, and that this paramount objective cannot be achieved by resorting to vague statements or expressions of good will, but only through concrete measures which, by promoting progress and wealth, will make possible the appearance of new protagonists on the world stage, New influences will have to emerge, capable of restoring the balance endangered in our time by the disproportionate development of certain nations.
6. That is how the situation looks to the Argentine Republic, from its American and Western standpoint. We wish to make this standpoint perfectly clear. We Argentines are part of a continent which, geographically and historically, is one, a continent in which all countries are linked by the closes ties of friendship and mutual respect. And at same time we are heirs to a civilization the vitality and spiritual wealth of which has made possible the great adventure which mankind is living today.
7. But it is precisely because we are Westerners, heirs to a traditional humanism, that we feel able to judge differences and antagonisms from a loftier standpoint. For we know that our civilization has spread its benefits throughout the world because it is inspired by Christian ideals which, in spite of the occasional weaknesses recorded by history, hold a universal message for all mankind. For that reason it is not difficult for Argentines to address themselves in a broad spirit of Christian cordiality to men who belong to other cultures. The interests of all peoples are interdependent and on many occasions It is obvious that to defend one of those interests in another part of the globe is simply to defend the Interests of one's country.
8. Many countries, geographically remote from us, are faced with situations arising from economic and social structures similar to our own; they share the same problems, they believe that such problems should be solved in the same way and they consider, as we do, that joint action is the best, indeed the only, method of developing their own international personality. Against this background, it is evident that the activities of our country within the community of nations must lie based on the clear-cut principles which have characterized Argentine international policy at all times.
9. Thus, we Argentines believe in the principle of self-determination of nations. Brought up in the democratic tradition which is deeply rooted in America, we cannot conceive of any legal basis for power other than the free consent of the community, when that community is bound together by spiritual, traditional, racial and historical ties which constitute the nation itself. And since we believe that power can only be legitimate if it is based on the free consent of the community, we cannot refrain from encouraging the endeavours of genuine nations' groups that seek to achieve self-government.
10. My country has also a profound respect for human values. Consequently, it is deeply concerned with the safeguarding of the rights and concrete freedoms which are part of the deeply-cherished inheritance of the Christian and Western tradition. The human person is sacred and my country feels that battles waged anywhere in the world in its defence are its own battles.
11. We also uphold the right of all peoples to cultural and economic development, and we feel that that problem, on the satisfactory solution of which the peace of the world depends, must be the focus of the activities of countries in a position similar to our own within the framework of the United Nations.
12. We jealously defend the principle of national sovereignty. We have resolutely taken up this attitude on more than one occasion, as the sister republics of this hemisphere can testify. It is a principle which we proclaimed in times when international affairs did not engage the public attention to the extent that they do today.
13. Not having been involved in the conflicts which have made our century one of the most dramatic in history, we can say that it has been our invariable policy to defend the cause of world peace — a Christian peace, of course, the fruits of a genuinely peaceful coexistence in freedom, combined with a scrupulous respect for the dignity of man — and, naturally, not a peace which is merely the expression of order imposed by force, by the exercise of overwhelming power.
14. Argentina believes that the greater the frankness with which problems are discussed by the United Nations, the nearer that Organization will come to achieving the aims that inspired its creation. Since international politics are, to a great extent, the visible expression of the internal conditions and circumstances prevailing in a given country, the success of the Assembly's work will largely depend on the frankness with which those circumstances are stated before it. Accordingly, the Argentine delegation wishes to set forth with absolute frankness the situation prevailing in its country.
15. The Argentine Republic is still a country in which economic development is inadequate. That is the first fact which must be frankly admitted, in spite of the impression which may be made on the casual foreign observer by its capital, one of the great cities of the world, and in spite of the vigour of the Argentine people.
16. It is a country well endowed with human and natural resources, but it has not yet experienced that upsurge which will one day lead it to greatness. Its population is sparse in relation to the extent and wealth of its territory. Up till now it has been content to concentrate on its immense agricultural and livestock resources which continue to be the basis for its participation in the international markets, but it has not rationally and methodically developed other factors making for a rich national life, although these are a necessary complement to the country’s activity if it is to attain true greatness in keeping with the exigencies of our time.
17. The struggle to protect our products, which have always been dependent upon the conditions imposed on the world market by the most influential economies, has been a hard one. Conditions of equilibrium in the market on which we depend have beer, subject to sudden fluctuations which we have not been strong enough to control, and this on more than one occasion has discouraged our producers and left them with a sense of helplessness. Nor can we overlook the steady decline in agricultural and livestock production resulting from our inability to take advantage of the latest advances and techniques which are today indispensable. Although the country is endowed with immensely rich coal and water-power resources, it still suffers from a shortage of energy which weakens its creative impulses.
18. In short, the situation in Argentina has been typical of the group of countries in which the effects of the technological revolution have not made themselves fully felt and which are therefore lagging behind in a period of bewilderingly rapid progress. It cannot be denied today that we are living in an age of rapid industrialization and intensive mechanization which presents backward countries with the terrifying alternatives of keeping abreast of the times or becoming colonies of countries which are already industrialized. Lastly, these phenomena are closely related to the simultaneous development of industrial technology and large-scale industrial organizations.
19. It should be made absolutely clear that this state of dependence is advantageous neither to those countries which have to endure it nor to mankind as a whole. Mankind is the chief victim of imbalance between nations in times when misfortunes and their repercussions affect the most distant regions in entirely unexpected ways.
20. The Argentine Republic is therefore perfectly frank about its present position; equally, it does not conceal the way in which it intends to face and overcome its difficulties. We do not believe that development in a national vacuum is feasible. There have been no instances of it in history and it would be senseless to harbour any such idea in this day and age. We do of course believe that we must encourage national savings in every conceivable way, if only to demonstrate our respect for moral values. But we are also aware that we must have the cooperation of foreign savings if we are to undertake the task of expansion and development to which we are committed.
21. It is absolutely essential for our country to raise the investment level and Argentina is therefore offering watertight guarantees to all those who are willing to co-operate sincerely in a mutually profitable task. Now that constitutional government has been restored, we realize that a sound fiscal policy, real social stability, scrupulous respect for the existing legal system and firm guarantees against improper expropriation and an arbitrary policy of restricting transfers of profits abroad are essential if we are to obtain the cooperation we need.
22. There is today in the Argentine Republic an attitude of mind which makes the accomplishment of the great undertaking already begun not only possible, but possible with the speed of a veritable mobilization, as required by present circumstances. We have successfully fought against two views of long standing which have constantly hampered any really serious attempt at national emancipation. The first is the so-called doctrine of international division of labour under which for many years our country was assigned the simple task of supplying raw materials at low prices to the countries directing the world economy in exchange for manufactured goods at high prices. The second is the attitude of mind which, on the false pretext of fighting the just and popular cause of the home-made product, has actually favoured the maintenance of the status quo, the position of dependence and stagnation.
23. Such an outlook is a thing of the past in our country. There is a real, genuine national consciousness and awareness of exactly what we want to achieve, and on, this foundation our Government has introduced within a few months and with great resoluteness a vigorous development policy. That is the significance of the recently-launched battle for oil; it is the first great fight for national fulfilment. In fighting it, we are facing at an ever-growing pace the task of exploiting fully our underground mineral wealth and thereby solving our energy problems. The oil and coal which lie hidden in huge quantities beneath our American soil are now ready to be added to the world's production and made available to the world markets, provided the capital to which Argentina is offering highly favourable terms is forthcoming.
24. International commitments assumed by previous Governments have been and will be scrupulously respected. This has already been proved in the few months during which the Government has held office, and it can be regarded as evidence of the maturity of a country which is fully aware of the solemn nature of its international obligations.
25. This in broad outline is the course which Argentina intends to follow now in preparation for the great mobilization which will give the impetus to national development. It is a mobilization similar to those carried out in earlier days and other latitudes by the enterprising pioneers who laid the foundations for the great Powers of our time. What it has so far accomplished shows clearly that our country has already passed the stage of mere talk and is determined not to lose a single day in the great battle to make it free and great.
26. But while we are conscious of our vigour and our potentialities, we are also alive to our real difficulties. This simple and unadorned picture of our country's position makes it clear that if the efforts of our people are to be fruitful, they must not be made in isolation but as part of a joint effort with other countries in like circumstances, first and foremost in association with our sister republics of the American continent.
27. We have already referred to our peculiar situation in the Americas. We now reaffirm the solidarity of all the countries of the continent without exception, a family which extends from pole to pole; but at the same time we have to recognize the fact that while one particular country has reached a stage of development unprecedented in history there are others which, despite their wealth in human and natural resources, remain stagnant and backward. Our own case and that of other Latin American countries shows the difficulty of acting in isolation and the extreme vulnerability of economies which are not diversified. That is why any speech by a Latin American should be addressed in the first instance to all those nations which share with us the legacy of the civilization which made our nationhood possible.
28. We Latin American countries have the unique privilege of belonging to perhaps the only group of nations in the history of the world which can legitimately call themselves "sister nations". Doubtless each of us has genuine national characteristics based on a spiritual structure of its own, individual in pattern. But we have also been united from our historical beginnings by the closest ties that have ever bound people together anywhere in the world. The Latin American countries all came into existence at practically the same time; they inherited the same tradition; they are of the same racial origin and of the same religious faith. All the ties which are ordinarily taken to be characteristic of a single nation closely unite our countries, even though each of us may have decided to go its own way in the intriguing enterprise of forming a community.
29. Both this irrevocable decision and our fundamental unity of origin suggest that at this time, on the basis of strict respect for national entities — the foundation of international law — we should resolutely embark upon joint action for mutual development in the economic sphere, with a view to removing the obstacles, sometimes less real than they seem and often at variance with our wishes, which prevent us from cooperating in the joint solution of our common problems.
30. Latin America is today playing an important part in the concert of nations and it aspires to a decisive role. For that purpose it can draw on the most extensive resources to be found anywhere in the world. Its rich cattle-lands, its enormous mineral wealth, its mighty sources of energy extend from the tropical zones of the north to the most southerly continental latitudes. Lastly, it can be Said that of all the continents it offers the brightest prospects for the increase of its present population without the risks of Overpopulation.
31. The ills of Argentina to which we are now drawing attention are, of course, the same ills that stunt the growth of the American countries and their great potentialities; and they can be overcome only by the joint efforts of those of our countries which suffer from them. At the same time, such efforts are bound to have a decisive influence on the development and cohesion of every single one of our countries. In short, joint solutions must be sought for common problems. We need one another's assistance in world markets; we need to face the problem of relations among ourselves squarely and decisively, using peaceful means for solving our disputes and our little boundary problems; we need to help one another to liberate our economies completely from the shackles which hamper their development. This genuine respect for each of our countries as legal and political entities, with no thought of subjugation or rivalry, must be translated into a vast plan, judiciously worked out, to enable each of our national entities to expand within the framework of the development of the Americas.
32. Because our aims are ambitious our methods must be wise, simple, well-defined and concrete. For instance, the efforts which must be made towards the establishment of a Latin American common market must be based on a series of agreements between countries as they gradually overcome both the apparent and the actual difficulties. In tills way we shall move towards our goal realistically. We can never hope to reach it merely by making declarations and building castles in the air.
33. It must be realized, indeed it should be clearly emphasized, that the constantly changing pattern of world economy raises at the present time a number of questions which in conjunction with the situation just described bring the important prospects of the future into nearer focus. The economy of European countries seems for the first time to have reached a point of stagnation in its hitherto uninterrupted expansion since the war.
34. The most recent developments in the United States are affecting world economy differently than might have been expected in the light of earlier experience. At the same time, the sharp decline in the price of commodities to which we have already referred is a determining factor in international trade reacting most sharply on countries undergoing development which are traditionally exporters of commodities.
35. In the next few months, at this Assembly and other important international and regional meetings, problems and proposals of great significance to the future development of the world economy will be discussed. We would draw particular attention to the questions to be examined at the forthcoming conference of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to be held at New Delhi, to the regional meetings of the Latin American and Commonwealth countries and more especially, in connexion with the work Of this Assembly, to the prospective decision to set up a Special Fund for economic development.
36. This brief survey reveals the need to co-ordinate efforts and programmes. To this end the Argentine delegation is anxious that I should put before you some of the basic views held by the Argentine Government. In the first place we wish to point out the need to attach a realistic and very flexible meaning to the idea of international economic co-operation. We believe it essential that within the framework of the United Nations the Economic and Social Council should assume that responsibility which rightly devolves upon it as a major consultative body. We hope therefore that the Secretary-General will spare no effort to gain the co-operation of Member States in relieving the Council of responsibilities of minor importance, thus giving it an opportunity to fulfill actively and effectively the mission entrusted to it under the Charter.
37. Without entering into detailed consideration of the other aspects of international economic co-operation, which will be discussed in the appropriate technical and geographical contexts, we do wish to stress most particularly one aspect of economic co-operation which in our view is essential to the economic development of the less developed areas. Experience in this field since the war has shown that almost all the efforts towards co-operation for the purpose of economic development have been concentrated on the provision of financial aid and technical advice, and the expansion of international trade. While fully recognizing the need to maintain and increase efforts in those directions to the greatest possible extent, the Argentine Government wishes to take this opportunity of putting on record the need to give equal attention to intensive concerted action to overcome what it regards as one of the most serious obstacles standing in the way of economic development in the less developed countries, in other words to the need for training teams of technical and scientific experts among the nationals of the less developed countries. Such teams would not only make possible the joint execution of development plans; they would also provide both the Governments and private enterprises in those countries with responsible leaders capable of carrying through the arduous task of national economic development.
38. It is our intention, therefore, at meetings of the appropriate bodies, to advocate the. allotment of a high proportion of the resources earmarked for international technical co-operation to the establishment in the less developed areas of permanent training and research institutes.
39. Lastly, we must express the Argentine Government's deep satisfaction at the final establishment of the Commission on International Commodity Trade, which provides the United Nations with an appropriate organ for the discussion of one of the most difficult economic problems facing the world.
40. We wish to avail ourselves of the world forum provided by the United Nations to give out a message from Argentina as a member of the American community. Conditions now exist in Argentina which make a policy of progress and national development possible: deep faith in the country's destiny; real legal security guaranteeing proper respect for individual rights, and the management of the economy in the country's interest. There are the three principles on which the young countries of the American continent are waging a great battle for self-realization; we now put these three principles before the countries of the world in the conviction that success in the battle will provide a considerable guarantee of stability in the immediate future. For just as the stature of each country in the American continent stands as a pledge of the stature of all the others, so also the greatness of the American continent as a whole is a pledge of security and peace throughout the world. The countries of the American continent are well aware that their situation is similar to that of other countries elsewhere in the world; they are aware that under-development, helplessness, discouragement and backwardness are to be found in other parts of the World which, in some cases more recently than they themselves, have joined the world movement towards political co-operation and progress.
41. The countries of the American continent feel themselves to be the heirs to Western civilization and are aware of the immense debt they owe to the old countries of Europe from which they have inherited race, culture, language and creed. At the same time they have a sense of fellowship with those peoples for whom the hour of awakening has struck and feel with them in their trials and tribulations. We fully appreciate that national freedom and progress are desirable not only for our continent; indeed it is the duty of the great Powers, as well as fundamental to their own interests, to spread material progress throughout the world in the same way as they propagated the doctrines of freedom that were born of their cultures.
42. We are especially anxious, of course, that the development of Latin America should be hastened, since we are convinced that if the countries of the American continent lag behind in their efforts towards economic development the result might easily spell disequilibrium between the great world systems with fatal consequences for the cause of peace and freedom throughout the world.
43. We have tried to speak of Argentina’s problems frankly and directly, and we have explained why. Argentina is convinced that this is the attitude most consistent with the spirit and purpose of the United Nations whose avowed aim as set forth in the Charter is to strive for the rights and progress of peoples. Our aim was to give a full and clear idea of the situation in a country aspiring to a great national future in the service of mankind.
44. Today when once more ominous clouds are gathering overhead, we of the countries which are on the threshold of virility and maturity and are preparing in peace to fight for peace, offer unstintingly the fine promise of our future to those who suffer discouragement, tribulation and fear.